New Leaf
by Violet-The-Bat
Summary: Joaquin has survived the fight in saving his town. His right eye is badly injured; and now he needs surgery. If he'll be okay, will he revert back to his old ways? Will he be a different person?
1. Chapter 1: A Letter

After the defeat of Chakal, and the wedding of his two best friends, Manolo and Maria, Joaquin returned home and decided to rest. After all, his Mom was returning from her visit to the United States tomorrow and would probably be shocked at seeing he town, and its post-battle condition; not to mention, her son was now wearing an eyepatch.

How was she gonna react? The last thing Joaquin needed was his Mom to be broken-hearted. She already lost her husband to Chakal, and now almost lost her baby boy. Who had now escaped the battle with a badly-damaged eye. If she were to have seen her son's wound, well, she'd never be same.

After all, being a parent, her son, Joaquin'd probably get over it _way_ before his mom would.

Before he dozed off in his own room, he removed the eyepatch and stared into the mirror, gently examining the blurred eye. Wow, it looked really bad; what if there was no chance in saving that eye? What if he'd no longer be able to enjoy the world around him to the best possibility he could?

That's when he realized something. That's the entire lesson he was being taught. Before, he was too absorbed in his own beauty to see the wonders around him; so, in a way, he had to be blinded in order to see. He just hoped that it wasn't too late to save the eye; he learned his lesson.

As he put the patch back on, and thought about the scary situation, he promised that if his right eye pulled through, and healed, then he'd never take his vision for granted EVER again.

Alright, his mom can't know yet. When he picks her up from the train station tomorrow, he'll just tell her he was recovering from a little case of pink eye he caught over the week while she was gone. Yeah, that'll work. And when the time is appropriate, he'll tell her the truth.

With his boots kicked off to let his feet air out, he climbed onto the old, soft bed he missed so much, and snatched a nearby pen and pad to write and prepare a letter to be sent to the famous Dr. Aquino who was a specialist in optometry, and was a total life saver when he had operated on Joaquin's father 13 years before.

He wasn't very simple to reach, though as far as travel went. Dr. Aquino lived in the Yucatan, and that meant it was about a 2,000 mile journey from San Angel.

He didn't know what to say.

"_Dear Dr. Aquino, Hi, it's Joaquin. You may no remember me, but I am actually the son of Captain Mondragon. You operated on his sight about 13 years ago, and I was there with my mom. I'm sure you heard about his death that very same year you saved his eye._

_Anyway, I am now in the Mexican military, and have suffered a recent injury to my eye, also. I have no idea how bad it is, but I'd really appreciate it if you'd help mine out, now. To be honest, will you keep this next comment in the doctor-patient confidentiality area? But...I'm really scared. Please help me._

_Sincerely, Joaquin Mondragon"_

Once the last name was written down, a yawn escaped him. The tired soldier then put the writing materials away in a special box that was off-limits to his mom, and set his alarm to wake him up at a decent time tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2:Life

As the alarm yelled, Joaquin woke; un-expecting and forgetful he set it up. The volume was so loud, it caused him to nearly fly out the bed, but his take off was stopped short by the award shelf above him.

As his groggy head came into contact with the obstacle, all the trophies became disturbed by the attack their owner accidentally set off, and countered with their own attack by toppling off the shelf, and bopping him on the head one by one as if he were some buffoon on a desert island being outwitted by a coconut tree.

He let the world know he was in pain for a moment, and then looked down at the trophies that lied resting in a pile in front of his pillow.

These reminded himself of the earlier days, when he really earned these awards for performing outstanding achievements. All of them was for being the most athletic. He first started earning them when he was 10. Now that he returned the Medal of Everlasting Life to Xibalba, Joaquin was now a victim to pain and death just like the rest of the world.

For the first time in 11 years...he was mortal. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't so bad. Since when is it a sin to bleed when you're scratched by an animal or punched in the face?

It wasn't. It was life. That medal had always been a burden its own way. When Joaquin was in possession of it, he always had to make sure that no one ever knew it existed; and whenever he did have to fight, there was always a worry of losing it, or risking that the enemy ran away with it in hand.

The medal was gone, and that was okay. No more secrets, no more shadows, no longer would he carry any false glory.

From now on, he'd be the one to determine whether he really deserved recognition. Ever since he saved the general that day, he was looked at as of he were the son the general never had.

Joaquin was grateful for that too, considering how his own dad, Enrico Mondragon, died when he was very young. The blank space in his life for a father figure had been filled by Maria's dad. No to mention, he was mentored, and trained by him, and it wasn't fair to fool his fellow soldiers and his authority with a magic medal.

Think about it; if he hadn't given it up, he would've gone through life without the two most important people in his life. Maria, the quick and witty girl who was now married, but was now like a little sister to him; and his 'blood' brother, Manolo. When they were little, all three of them would run around town with swords in their hands and pretend they were soldiers.

Then Maria had to go away for a while. Both boys missed her terribly, and often found sanity in each other by using their favorite pass times, of playing marbles out in the cemetery, fighting over Maria and sooner or later became distracted with their own problems. Such as adolescence. As the boys grew up, Joaquin found himself often envying, and sometimes even temporarily loathing Manolo's life.

Manolo may not have had a mom, but he still had a father to ask and talk to about growing up.

Teenage years were hard for Joaquin. Yes, the general took him in, but as far as being close went, they were more like a bland friendship. So, Joaquin usually had to deal with his teenage drama alone. Break-ups, temper management, fighting. And whenever he tried asking the general about growing up, he'd act just as uncomfortable as if Maria was asking the question.

Upon reminiscing, that's when he thought of something that never crossed his mind when it should have. He never really knew anything about his dad besides him being a military hero.

He knew then, he had to find answers. His mom! His mom would know! Speaking of her, her train would be here any minute, and the house was a mess! He'd clean it up the best he could, and send a stage coach for her.

Even though he already had a story ready in case she was curious about the eye patch, he still felt anxious.

Once the stagecoach was sent, he tidied up the place, and went to the post office where he hoped the letter wouldn't be answered any sooner than next week. Wait a second; even if the letter was answered, how was he going to tell his mom he was leaving?


End file.
